# Dashboards and data visualization: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "business intelligence and dashboard tool" and as "data visualization platform", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/gtm-data/dashboards-and-data-visualization/2026-09

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 15, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/gtm-data/dashboards-and-data-visualization/index.md

**Standing:** Microsoft Power BI leads with 62% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 50 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Microsoft Power BI](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/microsoft-power-bi/index.md) | 62% | 8% | 63 |
| 2 | [Looker Studio](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/looker-studio/index.md) | 14% | 22% | 23 |
| 3 | [Metabase](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/metabase/index.md) | 10% | 0% | 32 |
| 4 | [Tableau](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/tableau/index.md) | 6% | 22% | 55 |
| 5 | [Qlik Sense](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/qlik-sense/index.md) | 2% | 11% | 35 |
| 6 | [ThoughtSpot](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/thoughtspot/index.md) | 2% | 8% | 26 |
| 7 | [Zoho Analytics](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/zoho-analytics/index.md) | 2% | 6% | 18 |
| 9 | [Looker](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/looker/index.md) | 0% | 24% | 49 |
| 10 | [Sigma](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/sigma/index.md) | 0% | 6% | 18 |
| 11 | [Sisense](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/sisense/index.md) | 0% | 18% | 22 |
| 12 | [Apache Superset](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/apache-superset/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 15 | [Domo](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/domo/index.md) | 0% | 33% | 30 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 68 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Microsoft Power BI, Zoho Analytics; alternatives Looker, Metabase, Omni, Tableau
- GPT-5.4 mini: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Domo, Looker, Tableau, ThoughtSpot
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Cube, Metabase, Sigma, Sisense
- Perplexity Sonar: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Fairview, Looker
- Grok 4.20: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Metabase, Tableau, Zoho Analytics
- Mistral Small: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Domo, Looker, Sisense, Tableau
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Looker, Sigma, Tableau, Zoho Analytics
- Llama 4 Maverick: ThoughtSpot; alternatives Hex, Looker, Microsoft Power BI, Sigma
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Tableau, ThoughtSpot
- Kimi K2: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Looker, Looker Studio, Tableau
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Looker, Tableau
- MiniMax M2.5: Microsoft Power BI; alternatives Domo, Qlik Sense, Tableau, ThoughtSpot

## Sources the answers cite

19 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- ovaledge.com: 10 answers, 12 citations
- qlik.com: 9 answers, 10 citations
- domo.com: 7 answers, 8 citations
- toolradar.com: 6 answers, 10 citations
- reddit.com: 5 answers, 11 citations
- gartner.com: 5 answers, 7 citations
- thoughtspot.com: 5 answers, 5 citations
- holistics.io: 4 answers, 4 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://ovaledge.com/blog-template-test/the-best-business-intelligence-tools-in-2026-compared-and-ranked (8 answers)
- https://qlik.com/us/business-intelligence/business-intelligence-tools (6 answers)
- https://domo.com/learn/article/business-intelligence-tools (5 answers)
- https://toolradar.com/guides/best-business-intelligence-tools (5 answers)
- https://ovaledge.com/blog/business-intelligence-tools (4 answers)
- https://zapier.com/blog/business-intelligence-software (4 answers)
- https://gartner.com/en/documents/6576602 (3 answers)
- https://holistics.io/blog/business-intelligence-bi-tools (3 answers)
- https://monday.com/blog/project-management/bi-tools (3 answers)
- https://qlik.com/us/business-intelligence-tools (3 answers)

## Warned against

- Tableau: 12 of 55 labels negative. "Tools to Avoid on a Budget- Tableau — $75/user/month for creators; minimums are onerous" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Domo: 10 of 30 labels negative. "Domo — ~$50K/year minimum" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Looker: 12 of 49 labels negative. "Looker — ~$5,000+/month minimum" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Looker Studio: 5 of 23 labels negative. "Avoid for complex relational data modeling." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.